Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website.)
The Viaje Hamaki was originally released in 2017 as a part of the Viaje’s White Label Project. This time the two small batch releases return and receive their own packaging.
Hamaki is the Japanese word for cigar. The project was provoked by Viaje founder Andre Farkas’ travels to Japan. It is a 6 x 54 box-pressed torpedo with the blend details not being disclosed. When Hamaki was first released back in 2017, it was a Dominican puro produced at the Quesada factory in the Dominican Republic.
The Hamaki is packaged in 25-count boxes.
In terms of the new packaging Viaje refers to this as “graduating from the White Label Project” series. The White Label Project is a series of experimental cigars and in some cases factory errors. Lately, Viaje has been using White Label Project to test the waters with a new line. This has allowed Viaje to see how the market responds to a release before investing in a more detailed packaging.
The cigar is very dark and comes in a sharp box press. It has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after taking a small amount from the sharp torpedo cap was not very good. I used my PerfecDraw tool to open the draw. The initial flavors at light up were an orange citrus with citrus peel, some brown sugar, light cinnamon, nutmeg, massive amounts of unsweetened dark chocolate and black coffee. There was black pepper which I rated at 7 1/2. This is another dark noted cigar. The sweet notes to dark notes ration would be about 30/70 at the outset.
At the first third (28 minutes) the cigar showed improvement. The sweeter notes came out much more. The ration of sweet notes to dark notes is now 45/55. Much improved. The citrus is more pronounced, more brown sugar and cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus peel, cream, unsweetened dark chocolate, and black coffee. The pepper remained good. The finish is cream and nutmeg with a modest amount of lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The cigar is pretty good and I really liked the major improvement in the first third from light up. I rated the first third at 91.
At the second third (1 hour 15 minutes) the cigar is in balance. The cigar kept improving. The flavors are the same as before except I lost the cream notes. At times I got caramel notes in the mix of sweet flavors which was nice. The black pepper is still good. There is now citrus peel on the finish to go along with the cream and nutmeg. The lingering black pepper is up. The cigar is full bodied now. Overall the cigar (for me) improved. I rated the second third at 92.
The cigar lasted an impressive 1 hour 42 minutes. In the final third I lost a lot of the sweetness in the citrus and brown sugar. The flavors remained the same and the cigar was in balance but the sweetness decreased. The nutmeg, unsweetened dark chocolate, and black coffee remained unchanged. The cigar is still full bodied. The finish is unchanged. With the loss of substantial sweetness I lowered the final third score to 90.
Overall Score: 91
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